Explore the road.
The street I chose to photograph was Deal High Street. To make me see it in a new way I shot in mono. This made me look for texture and shape rather than hue and tone. The day was heavily overcast and raining steadily. This again suited the choice of mono. I walked the length of the street trying to ignore the familiar and see it as for the first time.
The first featured image is of a door high up on a garage wall. The door serves no purpose as it leads out to a drop of some 10 feet. I like both its dereliction and its uselessness.
The second is a long closed tobacconists that still has a Senior Service cigarette machine by its door. The mono treatment gives a feeling of timelessness. The last time the machine was used a packet of twenty cost 3s 9d.
The third featured image is of a piece of graffiti in an alley leading to St. Georges Church Hall. Deal is thankfully free of graffiti so this rather tasteful piece stands out.
The last I wish to feature is a view into an alley where one of our many cafes can be seen. Deal is a maze of such alleys each sheltering its own gem.
Below is the contact sheet showing all the shots. As I said above I have not gone for the obvious or tourist shot but tried to see my town anew.
Road to Perdition. 2002. Directed by Sam Mendes.
Watching this film again, and not having to worry too much about the story line, allowed me to see how much the roads and streets in this film lead one through the action.
The film opens and closes on a beach scene where Michael Sullivan Jr., the son of the main character Michael Sullivan (Tom Hanks), is narrating the story. The scene is a blank canvas of pale sand and a calm blue sea.
The story proper starts with Young Michael on his paper round riding his bike on a snowy road against the heavy pedestrian traffic. On his return to the store he hands over the unsold papers, pinches a chocolate bar and is paid.
The family is brought together for the evening meal by two roads, one ridden by Michael Jr. and one driven by Michael Sr. Neither of the sons, Peter and Michael, know what dad does for a living but Michael gets a hint when he sees his father take a pistol from inside his jacket and place it on the bed.
At a wake held in a large mansion owned by John Rooney (Paul Newman) it becomes obvious that Michael Sr. is a hit man for the Irish mafia.
The film comes awake when Michael Jr. sees dad carry out an assassination. He is spotted by dad and another gunman, Connor Rooney (Daniel Craig). He tries to run off but the road is blocked by large gates. Not only do these gates bar his escape but also seal the fates of many people.
The Rooneys decide they can’t trust Michael Jr. to keep quiet so Connor visits the Sullivan house. The two Michaels are out but Connor executes Mrs. Sullivan and Peter.
The two Michaels are forced to run. As they drive off the camera settles on Michaels bicycle which is laying, where he left it, in the snow. It stands as a neat metaphor for a life now over and them driving off towards an unknown future.
The decision is made to drive to a town called Perdition where an aunt lives and where young Michael can be safely left. The straight roads and flat ground over which they drive hint at a mission and a plan. The passing of a large cemetery hints at what is to follow.
Unfortunately for them a gunman named Harlen Maguire (Jude Law) is aware of the plan and is in pursuit. He is thwarted at a diner but this alerts Michael Sr. that their plan of going to Perdition is wrecked.
The long straight road now leads back to town and to action necessary to protect Michael Jr.. It is a U turn in their journey and a U turn in their plans. The new plan is to kill Connor Rooney. A rival gang boss, Finn McGovern, refuses to help and even tries to have him killed.
To force things to a head the two Michaels head out on a bank robbing spree but with the twist they only take money belonging to the gangs. There is a lovely scene where dad is teaching his son to drive so that he can be the get-a-way driver. They also obtain papers and books that belonged to John Rooney. During this raid, which was really an ambush set up by Harlen McGuire, both Michael Sr. and McGuire are injured.
The next drive is one of desperation with son at the wheel and dad passing out. Where will this journey take us? They hide out at a neglected farm house owned by an old childless couple who nurse Michael Sr. back to health. On leaving they leave the couple a fortune in used notes.
They return to town to finish their business. As the Rooney clan and minders emerge from an hotel into a rainy street and walk towards their cars a lone gunman opens fire from the streets enclosed end and kills them all, leaving John Rooney till the last. The closed end of the street standing for the end of a era.
Connor Rooney is traced to his hotel room and shot in his bath.
The drive to Perdition is now seen as safe and the filming of it reflects this. Gone is the urgency and the poor weather. There is now a positive feel to the drive.
On arrival at aunt’s house on the beach at Perdition the story turns again as Maguire, who was laying in wait, shoots Michael Sr. and prepares to take his photograph. Michael Jr. distracts Maguire long enough for Michael Sr. to draw a gun and kill him.
The last drive is the one Michael Jr. takes back to the farmstead and the old couple where it is assumed they will bring him up. This marks the end of the journey and this much travelled road. Michael parks the car at the roadside and walks up to the farmstead.
The roads in this film take us on a journey through the story and are used as a lead to the next chapter. The use of metaphor with the poor weather, the cemetery, the U turns and the dead ends act to hint at what is coming. The lack of threat in the last drive to Perdition sets us up for the final act and the almost inevitable death of Michael Sr.
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